101-599: Arular is the debut studio album by British recording artist M.I.A. It was released on 22 March 2005 in the United States, and one month later in the United Kingdom , with a slightly different track listing. In 2004, the album's release was preceded by two singles and a mixtape . M.I.A. wrote or co-wrote all the songs on the album, while collaborators included Justine Frischmann , Switch , Diplo , Richard X , Ant Whiting and Greg "Wizard" Fleming. The album's title
202-693: A "guerrilla" style. The CD booklet features motifs of tanks, bombs and machine guns, and depictions of tigers, which writers connected with the Tamil Tigers. Village Voice critic Robert Christgau connected the album's imagery with the artist's "obsession" with the organisation, but claimed that its use was purely artistic and not propaganda. In his view, the images were considered controversial only because "rock and roll fans are assumed to be stupid" and would not be expected to ascertain their true significance. Similarly, PopMatters writer Robert Wheaton observed that tiger imagery "does predominate M.I.A.'s vision of
303-420: A "live" sound. Recordings, including live, may contain editing, sound effects, voice adjustments, etc. With modern recording technology , artists can be recorded in separate rooms or at separate times while listening to the other parts using headphones ; with each part recorded as a separate track . Album covers and liner notes are used, and sometimes additional information is provided, such as analysis of
404-462: A bass line and new vocals to give the song "a more analogue sound" than was possible with the 505. The track was co-written by Frischmann, whose input M.I.A. described as "refreshing". She initially hoped to feature guest vocalists on the album, but was unable due to budget constraints and other artists' unfamiliarity with her work. She chose to perform all the vocals herself, saying, "I just quietly got on with it ... I didn't wanna convince anyone it
505-458: A brown heavy paper sleeve with a large hole in the center so the record's label could be seen. The fragile records were stored on their sides. By the mid-1920s, photo album publishers sold collections of empty sleeves of heavier paper in bound volumes with stiff covers slightly larger than the 10" popular records. (Classical records measured 12".) On the paper cover in small type were the words "Record Album". Now records could be stored vertically with
606-412: A collection of pieces or songs on a single record was called an "album"; the word was extended to other recording media such as compact disc, MiniDisc , compact audio cassette, 8-track tape and digital albums as they were introduced. An album (Latin albus , white), in ancient Rome, was a board chalked or painted white, on which decrees, edicts, and other public notices were inscribed in black. It
707-403: A compilation of songs created by any average listener of music. The songs on a mixtape generally relate to one another in some way, whether it be a conceptual theme or an overall sound. After the introduction of Compact discs, the term "Mixtape" began to apply to any personal compilation of songs on any given format. The sales of Compact Cassettes eventually began to decline in the 1990s, after
808-424: A current or former member of a musical group which is released under that artist's name only, even though some or all other band members may be involved. The solo album appeared as early as the late 1940s. A 1947 Billboard magazine article heralded " Margaret Whiting huddling with Capitol execs over her first solo album on which she will be backed by Frank De Vol ". There is no formal definition setting forth
909-557: A customer buys a whole album rather than just one or two songs from the artist. The song is not necessarily free nor is it available as a stand-alone download, adding also to the incentive to buy the complete album. In contrast to hidden tracks , bonus tracks are included on track listings and usually do not have a gap of silence between other album tracks. Bonus tracks on CD or vinyl albums are common in Japan for releases by European and North American artists; since importing international copies of
1010-401: A dad, I was going to school and turning up at parents' meetings on my own. At the time everyone was like, "Oh if you had a dad he’d pay for your school and you’d have a better future". At the time, my mom was bringing us up and she was like, "The only thing your father gave you was a name". So that's why I used [his name "Arular"] on my album to turn it into a statement that my mom always made. If
1111-461: A few hours to several years. This process usually requires several takes with different parts recorded separately, and then brought or " mixed " together. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed "live", even when done in a studio. Studios are built to absorb sound, eliminating reverberation , to assist in mixing different takes; other locations, such as concert venues and some "live rooms", have reverberation, which creates
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#17328770522211212-701: A part in forming the group Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS) in January 1975 in Wandsworth , England during the Tamil independence movements to secure an independent Tamil Eelam . He later left the conflict, after work as an independent peace negotiator between the two sides of the civil war. At the time of his death, he headed the Global Sustainability Initiative in the United Kingdom. He
1313-597: A prediction which ultimately came true. Despite reports to the contrary, M.I.A. denied that her father was a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , popularly known as the Tamil Tigers. The album is influenced by music that M.I.A. listened to as a child in London, including hip hop , dancehall , and punk rock . She cited as particular influences Eric B. & Rakim , Public Enemy , and London Posse , whom she described as "the best of British hip hop ". Her work on
1414-470: A redesigned bullock cart, a motorised wheelbarrow and a car that consumes less petrol. Arulpragasam explained "GSI's mission is to develop a program with a global perspective." Pragasam died on 3 December 2019, aged 71. Arul Pragasam was the father of jewellery designer Kali Arulpragasam , musician/filmmaker/visual artist Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam (better known by her stage name, M.I.A. ), and Sugu Arulpragasam. His family moved back to Sri Lanka when Maya
1515-513: A similar cultural impact in England to that of Public Enemy in America. "I found understanding hip-hop a universal thing. Not just understanding the rhythm, how they danced, their style or their attitude; there was something else, beyond song structure and language. It works on a few basic human principles, in terms of what stimulation buttons to push...It had content and struggle behind it... and because I
1616-417: A single artist, genre or period, a single artist covering the songs of various artists or a single artist, genre or period, or any variation of an album of cover songs which is marketed as a "tribute". Arul Pragasam Arulappu Richard Arulpragasam (13 April 1948 – 3 December 2019), also known as Arular and A. R. Arulpragasam , was a Tamil activist and former revolutionary from Jaffna who had
1717-522: A single case, or a triple album containing three LPs or compact discs. Recording artists who have an extensive back catalogue may re-release several CDs in one single box with a unified design, often containing one or more albums (in this scenario, these releases can sometimes be referred to as a "two (or three)-fer"), or a compilation of previously unreleased recordings. These are known as box sets . Some musical artists have also released more than three compact discs or LP records of new recordings at once, in
1818-433: A solo album for several reasons. A solo performer working with other members will typically have full creative control of the band, be able to hire and fire accompanists, and get the majority of the proceeds. The performer may be able to produce songs that differ widely from the sound of the band with which the performer has been associated, or that the group as a whole chose not to include in its own albums. Graham Nash of
1919-414: A studio. However, the common understanding of a "live album" is one that was recorded at a concert with a public audience, even when the recording is overdubbed or multi-tracked. Concert or stage performances are recorded using remote recording techniques. Albums may be recorded at a single concert , or combine recordings made at multiple concerts. They may include applause, laughter and other noise from
2020-406: A theme such as the "greatest hits" from one artist, B-sides and rarities by one artist, or selections from a record label , a musical genre , a certain time period, or a regional music scene. Promotional sampler albums are compilations. A tribute or cover album is a compilation of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may involve various artists covering the songs of
2121-453: A trend of shifting sales in the music industry , some observers feel that the early 21st century experienced the death of the album . An album may contain any number of tracks. In the United States, The Recording Academy 's rules for Grammy Awards state that an album must comprise a minimum total playing time of 15 minutes with at least five distinct tracks or a minimum total playing time of 30 minutes with no minimum track requirement. In
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#17328770522212222-430: A way of promoting the album. Albums have been issued that are compilations of older tracks not originally released together, such as singles not originally found on albums, b-sides of singles, or unfinished " demo " recordings. Double albums during the seventies were sometimes sequenced for record changers . In the case of a two-record set, for example, sides 1 and 4 would be stamped on one record, and sides 2 and 3 on
2323-469: Is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music ) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette ), or digital . Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records (78s) collected in a bound book resembling a photo album ; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl long-playing (LP) records played at 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm . The album
2424-580: Is any vocal content. A track that has the same name as the album is called the title track. A bonus track (also known as a bonus cut or bonus) is a piece of music which has been included as an extra. This may be done as a marketing promotion, or for other reasons. It is not uncommon to include singles, B-sides , live recordings , and demo recordings as bonus tracks on re-issues of old albums, where those tracks were not originally included. Online music stores allow buyers to create their own albums by selecting songs themselves; bonus tracks may be included if
2525-438: Is funny because he is a politician. And my mum always used to say about my father, 'He was so useless, all he ever gave you was his name'. So I turned it around and turned that something into nothing. And at the same time I thought it would be a good way to find him. If he really was an egomaniac , he'd be looking himself up and he'd get this pop album stealing his name that would turn out to be me, and he'd have to get in touch",
2626-552: Is not necessarily just in MP3 file format, in which higher quality formats such as FLAC and WAV can be used on storage media that MP3 albums reside on, such as CD-R-ROMs , hard drives , flash memory (e.g. thumbdrives , MP3 players , SD cards ), etc. The contents of the album are usually recorded in a studio or live in concert, though may be recorded in other locations, such as at home (as with JJ Cale's Okie , Beck's Odelay , David Gray's White Ladder , and others), in
2727-402: Is recorded on both the "A" and "B" side of the tape, with cassette being "turned" to play the other side of the album. Compact Cassettes were also a popular way for musicians to record " Demos " or "Demo Tapes" of their music to distribute to various record labels, in the hopes of acquiring a recording contract . Compact cassettes also saw the creation of mixtapes , which are tapes containing
2828-482: Is the political code name used by her father, Arul Pragasam , during his involvement with Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups , and themes of conflict and revolution feature heavily in the lyrics and artwork. Musically, the album incorporates styles that range from hip hop and electroclash to dancehall , baile funk , and punk . M.I.A. created the basic backing tracks using a Roland MC-505 sequencer / drum machine given to her by long-time friend Frischmann. Arular
2929-516: Is the primary influence, but also one of many seismic collisions with several other genres." In his review for Stylus Magazine , Josh Timmermann described Arular as "a swaggering, spitting, utterly contemporary album" and went on to say, "We've not heard its like before." Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield found Arular "weird, playful, unclassifiable, sexy, brilliantly addictive". Sasha Frere-Jones , writing in The New Yorker , described
3030-548: The NME placed the album at number 50 in its list of the 100 greatest albums of the decade. In 2009, online music service Rhapsody ranked the album at number four on its "100 Best Albums of the Decade" list. In 2011, Rolling Stone ranked the album number 52 on its list of the 100 best albums of the 2000s. Clash magazine ranked the album at number 7 on their list of the "50 greatest albums of our lifetime (since 2004)". Pitchfork ranked
3131-474: The PLO , was written in response to the Tamil Tigers being considered terrorists in some quarters. She said, "you can't separate the world into two parts like that, good and evil. America has successfully tied all these pockets of independence struggles, revolutions and extremists into one big notion of terrorism." The lyrics caused controversy; MTV censored the sounds of gunshots in the song and MTV US refused to broadcast
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3232-813: The Top Electronic Albums chart and number 16 on the Top Independent Albums . By May 2010, it had sold 190,000 copies in the United States. The album peaked at number 98 on the UK Albums Chart , while in mainland Europe, it reached number 20 in Norway, number 47 in Sweden, number 71 in Germany and number 97 in Belgium. Credits adapted from the liner notes of Arular . Studio album An album
3333-517: The iPod , US album sales dropped 54.6% from 2001 to 2009. The CD is a digital data storage device which permits digital recording technology to be used to record and play-back the recorded music. Most recently, the MP3 audio format has matured, revolutionizing the concept of digital storage. Early MP3 albums were essentially CD-rips created by early CD- ripping software, and sometimes real-time rips from cassettes and vinyl. The so-called "MP3 album"
3434-514: The 1970s. Appraising the concept in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau said most "are profit-taking recaps marred by sound and format inappropriate to phonographic reproduction (you can't put sights, smells, or fellowship on audio tape). But for Joe Cocker and Bette Midler and Bob-Dylan -in-the-arena, the form makes a compelling kind of sense." Among
3535-443: The 25-minute mark. The album Dopesmoker by Sleep contains only a single track, but the composition is over 63 minutes long. There are no formal rules against artists such as Pinhead Gunpowder referring to their own releases under thirty minutes as "albums". If an album becomes too long to fit onto a single vinyl record or CD, it may be released as a double album where two vinyl LPs or compact discs are packaged together in
3636-491: The Hollies described his experience in developing a solo album as follows: "The thing that I go through that results in a solo album is an interesting process of collecting songs that can't be done, for whatever reason, by a lot of people". A solo album may also represent the departure of the performer from the group. A compilation album is a collection of material from various recording projects or various artists, assembled with
3737-556: The Sri Lankan state. He made sporadic visits to Jaffna where his family lived, introducing himself to his children as their uncle. Although never himself a member of the LTTE , Arulpragasam was an old friend of the group's military leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran during the early years of the Tamil rebellion. His wife and three children left Jaffna in the late 80s and were granted political asylum in
3838-459: The United Kingdom, the criteria for the UK Albums Chart is that a recording counts as an "album" if it either has more than four tracks or lasts more than 25 minutes. Sometimes shorter albums are referred to as mini-albums or EPs . Albums such as Tubular Bells , Amarok , and Hergest Ridge by Mike Oldfield , and Yes's Close to the Edge , include fewer than four tracks, but still surpass
3939-399: The United Kingdom, while he remained behind. Arul Pragasam left his group EROS and the conflict in 1987, becoming an independent peace mediator between the two sides of the civil war, and he was instrumental in bringing in more direct Indian intervention to the conflict in 1987, ultimately ending in failure. M.I.A. has stated in interviews her father shared revolutionary ideals, and that he
4040-473: The album as "genuine world music ", based on "the weaving of the political into the fabric of what are still, basically, dance tunes ". Other reviewers were not as complimentary. Paste ' s Jeff Leven said that the album, although strong, was not as "mindblowing" as many critics were saying. Q characterised the album as "style mag-cool pop-rap" and claimed that it lacked the substance suggested by M.I.A.'s decision to name it after her father. Arular
4141-413: The album can be cheaper than buying a domestically released version, Japanese releases often feature bonus tracks to incentivize domestic purchase. Commercial sheet music is published in conjunction with the release of a new album (studio, compilation, soundtrack, etc.). A matching folio songbook is a compilation of the music notation of all the songs included in that particular album. It typically has
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4242-589: The album drew on the punk music of The Clash and music from genres such as Britpop and electroclash , to which she was exposed during her time studying at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design . Living in West London, she met many musicians who to her defined an era of British music that was "actually credible". In a 2008 interview, she elaborated on the importance of the west London punk scene , citing acts such as The Slits , The Clash, and Don Letts ; she claimed that Bow Wow Wow and Malcolm McLaren had
4343-492: The album the 54th best album of the 2000s. In 2019, the album was ranked 32nd on The Guardian ' s 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century list, while in 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 421 in their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time . In July 2022, Rolling Stone also ranked Arular as the 77th best debut album of all time. Arular peaked at number 190 on the Billboard 200 , while reaching number three on
4444-516: The album's artwork on its cover and, in addition to sheet music, it includes photos of the artist. Most pop and rock releases come in standard Piano/Vocal/Guitar notation format (and occasionally Easy Piano / E-Z Play Today). Rock-oriented releases may also come in Guitar Recorded Versions edition, which are note-for-note transcriptions written directly from artist recordings. Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one-half of
4545-506: The album's musical influences as "anything as long as it has a beat". Some tracks drew on Tamil film music , which M.I.A. listened to while growing up. Shapiro described her music as a "multi-genre pile-up" and likened it to her graphic art , calling it "vivid, gaudy, lo-fi and deceptively candyfloss". In a 2005 interview, when asked about the difficulty in categorising her sound, M.I.A. explained, "Influences are crossing over into each other's puddles. I just accept where I'm at, I accept where
4646-413: The album, " Bucky Done Gun ", was released on 26 July 2005. The video was directed by Anthony Mandler . In December 2004, M.I.A. independently released a mixtape titled Piracy Funds Terrorism , produced by M.I.A. and Diplo, as a "teaser" for the album. The release featured rough mixes of tracks from Arular mashed up with songs by other artists, and was promoted by word-of-mouth. In early 2005, after
4747-503: The album. If a pop or rock album contained tracks released separately as commercial singles , they were conventionally placed in particular positions on the album. During the sixties, particularly in the UK, singles were generally released separately from albums. Today, many commercial albums of music tracks feature one or more singles, which are released separately to radio, TV or the Internet as
4848-474: The amount of participation a band member can solicit from other members of their band, and still have the album referred to as a solo album. One reviewer wrote that Ringo Starr 's third venture, Ringo , "[t]echnically... wasn't a solo album because all four Beatles appeared on it". Three of the four members of the Beatles released solo albums while the group was officially still together. A performer may record
4949-461: The artist. Returning to London, she unexpectedly gained access to a 505 owned by her friend, former Elastica singer Justine Frischmann . M.I.A. used the 505 to make demo recordings in her bedroom. She initially planned to work as a producer. To this end, she approached Caribbean girls in clubs to see if they would provide vocals for the songs, but without success. M.I.A. secured a record deal with XL Recordings after Frischmann's manager overheard
5050-510: The audience, comments by the performers between pieces, improvisation, and so on. They may use multitrack recording direct from the stage sound system (rather than microphones placed among the audience), and can employ additional manipulation and effects during post-production to enhance the quality of the recording. Notable early live albums include the double album of Benny Goodman , The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert , released in 1950. Live double albums later became popular during
5151-406: The best selling live albums are Eric Clapton 's Unplugged (1992), selling over 26 million copies, Garth Brooks ' Double Live (1998), over 21 million copies, and Peter Frampton 's Frampton Comes Alive! (1976), over 11 million copies. In Rolling Stone ' s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time , 18 albums were live albums. A solo album , in popular music , is an album recorded by
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#17328770522215252-446: The cassette tape throughout the 1970s and early 1980s; the popularity of the cassette reached its peak during the late 1980s before sharply declining during the 1990s. The cassette had largely disappeared by the first decade of the 2000s. Most albums are recorded in a studio , although they may also be recorded in a concert venue , at home, in the field, or a mix of places. The time frame for completely recording an album varies between
5353-415: The cheap and noisy aesthetics of punk " and claimed that Arular would be regarded as the best political album of the year. Adam Webb, writing for Yahoo! Music , described the album's style as "professionally amateurish" and M.I.A.'s approach as "scattergun", but said that she "effortlessly appropriates the music of various cultures and filters them through the most elementary equipment". He said, "dancehall
5454-793: The conflict in Sri Lanka to international attention for the first time. In March 1976, he moved to Vavuniya and was one of three EROS members selected to train for six months in Lebanon with Palestinian militants associated with the Fatah wing of the PLO . He left after three months of training, returning to Jaffna , Northern Sri Lanka with his family. Arulpragasam moved back to Vavuniya in late 1976 and from 1978 – 1986, he lived and worked in Tamil Nadu where India, through its intelligence agency supported and trained EROS, one of six Tamil revolutionary groups against
5555-519: The demo. M.I.A. began work on the album by composing lyrics and melodies, and she programmed drum beats at home on the drum machine. Having produced rough tracks via trial and error, she honed the finished songs in collaboration with other writer-producers. Through these collaborations, she sought to produce a diverse style and "drag [her collaborators] out of their boxes, musically". DJ Diplo introduced elements of Brazilian baile funk to " Bucky Done Gun ". Fellow composer-producer Richard X worked on
5656-516: The end of the armed conflict in 2009, M.I.A. condemned the Government of Sri Lanka for engaging in systematic genocide against Tamils. In a 2010 feature for The Fader , she stated of the US and Sri Lankan government's behaviour towards her following her rise in prominence: "He negotiated peace processes, brought in the new army, and when he goes to Sri Lanka, it’s the government who gives him security against
5757-612: The field – as with early blues recordings, in prison, or with a mobile recording unit such as the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio . Most albums are studio albums —that is, they are recorded in a recording studio with equipment meant to give those overseeing the recording as much control as possible over the sound of the album. They minimize external noises and reverberations and have highly sensitive microphones and sound mixing equipment. Band members may record their parts in separate rooms or at separate times, listening to
5858-494: The form of a prototype. Compact Cassettes became especially popular during the 1980s after the advent of the Sony Walkman , which allowed the person to control what they listened to. The Walkman was convenient because of its size, the device could fit in most pockets and often came equipped with a clip for belts or pants. The compact cassette used double-sided magnetic tape to distribute music for commercial sale. The music
5959-480: The form of boxed sets, although in that case the work is still usually considered to be an album. Material (music or sounds) is stored on an album in sections termed tracks. A music track (often simply referred to as a track) is an individual song or instrumental recording. The term is particularly associated with popular music where separate tracks are known as album tracks; the term is also used for other formats such as EPs and singles . When vinyl records were
6060-535: The geopolitical trauma, violence, and loss that her audience are engaged in from different subject positions. Arular was to be released in September 2004, but was delayed. M.I.A.'s record label stated that the delay was caused by problems obtaining permission to use an unspecified sample. Revised release dates of December 2004 and February 2005 were publicised, but the album remained unreleased; at one point, Pitchfork announced that it had been shelved indefinitely. It
6161-582: The later '30s, record companies began releasing albums of previously released recordings of popular music in albums organized by performer, singers or bands, or by type of music, boogie-woogie , for example. When Columbia introduced the Long Playing record format in 1948, it was natural the term album would continue. Columbia expected that the record size distinction in 78s would continue, with classical music on 12" records and popular music on 10" records, and singles on 78s. Columbia's first popular 10" LP in fact
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#17328770522216262-488: The longer 12-inch 78s, playing around 4–5 minutes per side. For example, in 1924, George Gershwin recorded a drastically shortened version of his new seventeen-minute composition Rhapsody in Blue with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. The recording was issued on both sides of a single record, Victor 55225 and ran for 8m 59s. By 1910, though some European record companies had issued albums of complete operas and other works,
6363-483: The mid-1930s, record companies had adopted the album format for classical music selections that were longer than the roughly eight minutes that fit on both sides of a classical 12" 78 rpm record. Initially the covers were plain, with the name of the selection and performer in small type. In 1938, Columbia Records hired the first graphic designer in the business to design covers, others soon followed and colorful album covers cover became an important selling feature. By
6464-479: The mid-1960s to the late 1970s when the Compact Cassette format took over. The format is regarded as an obsolete technology, and was relatively unknown outside the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Stereo 8 was created in 1964 by a consortium led by Bill Lear of Lear Jet Corporation , along with Ampex , Ford Motor Company , General Motors , Motorola , and RCA Victor Records . It
6565-447: The only thing he's going to give me is a name, then that's what I'm going to use." In 2005, M.I.A. told EGO Magazine that despite her father's involvement in the conflict, she felt no affiliation to either armed party in the war, noting her work to be the voice of "civilians and refugees that get caught up in the cross fire of politics" and shocking enough to invoke discussion in young people that felt they had no right to talk. Following
6666-443: The other parts of the track with headphones to keep the timing right. In the 2000s, with the advent of digital recording , it became possible for musicians to record their part of a song in another studio in another part of the world, and send their contribution over digital channels to be included in the final product. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing or multi-tracking are termed "live", even when done in
6767-414: The other. The user would stack the two records onto the spindle of an automatic record changer, with side 1 on the bottom and side 2 (on the other record) on top. Side 1 would automatically drop onto the turntable and be played. When finished, the tone arm's position would trigger a mechanism which moved the arm out of the way, dropped the record with side 2, and played it. When both records had been played,
6868-464: The practice of issuing albums was not widely taken up by American record companies until the 1920s. By about 1910, bound collections of empty sleeves with a paperboard or leather cover, similar to a photograph album, were sold as record albums that customers could use to store their records (the term "record album" was printed on some covers). These albums came in both 10-inch and 12-inch sizes. The covers of these bound books were wider and taller than
6969-406: The primary medium for audio recordings a track could be identified visually from the grooves and many album covers or sleeves included numbers for the tracks on each side. On a compact disc the track number is indexed so that a player can jump straight to the start of any track. On digital music stores such as iTunes the term song is often used interchangeably with track regardless of whether there
7070-404: The record industry as a standard format for the "album". Apart from relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound capability, it has remained the standard format for vinyl albums. The term "album" was extended to other recording media such as 8-track tape , cassette tape , compact disc , MiniDisc , and digital albums, as they were introduced. As part of
7171-617: The record not touching the shelf, and the term was applied to the collection. In the early nineteenth century, "album" was occasionally used in the titles of some classical music sets, such as Robert Schumann 's Album for the Young Opus 68, a set of 43 short pieces. With the advent of 78 rpm records in the early 1900s, the typical 10-inch disc could only hold about three minutes of sound per side, so almost all popular recordings were limited to around three minutes in length. Classical-music and spoken-word items generally were released on
7272-415: The recording of her album Loose . Thom Yorke of alternative rock band Radiohead cited M.I.A.'s method of music making on Arular as an influence on his own work, saying that it reminded him of "just picking up a guitar and [liking] the first three chords you write" as opposed to "agonizing over the hi-hat sound which seems to happen with programming and electronica a lot of the time". In 2009,
7373-451: The recording, and lyrics or librettos . Historically, the term "album" was applied to a collection of various items housed in a book format. In musical usage, the word was used for collections of short pieces of printed music from the early nineteenth century. Later, collections of related 78s were bundled in book-like albums (one side of a 78 rpm record could hold only about 3.5 minutes of sound). When LP records were introduced,
7474-497: The records inside, allowing the record album to be placed on a shelf upright, like a book, suspending the fragile records above the shelf and protecting them. In the 1930s, record companies began issuing collections of 78s by one performer or of one type of music in specially assembled albums, typically with artwork on the front cover and liner notes on the back or inside cover. Most albums included three or four records, with two sides each, making six or eight compositions per album. By
7575-452: The release and distribution Compact Discs . The 2010s saw a revival of Compact Cassettes by independent record labels and DIY musicians who preferred the format because of its difficulty to share over the internet . The compact disc format replaced both the vinyl record and the cassette as the standard for the commercial mass-market distribution of physical music albums. After the introduction of music downloading and MP3 players such as
7676-578: The release of Arular , an extensive collection of fan-made remixes of M.I.A.'s work was uploaded, expanded and made available as an "online mixtape" on XL's official website, under the banner Online Piracy Funds Terrorism . M.I.A. toured extensively during 2005 to promote the album. The Arular Tour included concerts in North America supporting LCD Soundsystem and appearances at music festivals in Europe, Japan and South America. In November 2005, she appeared as
7777-445: The support act at a number of dates on Gwen Stefani 's Harajuku Lovers Tour . Arular received widespread acclaim from music critics. Metacritic , which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, reported an average score of 88 based on 33 reviews, described as "universal acclaim". Julianne Shepherd of Spin appreciated the album's fusion of " hip hop 's cockiness with dancehall 's shimmy and
7878-533: The time it was released, a "near hysterical buzz" on the internet had created "slavish anticipation" for the album. Despite this, M.I.A. claimed in late 2005 that she had little comprehension of her prior popularity with music bloggers, stating that she did not even own a computer. The first track from the album to be made available was " Galang ". It was initially released in late 2003 by independent label Showbiz Records, which pressed and distributed 500 promotional copies before M.I.A. signed with XL Recordings. The song
7979-473: The track "Hombre", which featured a drum pattern created from the sounds made by toys that M.I.A. had bought in India, augmented with sounds produced by objects such as pens and mobile phones. Steve Mackey and Ross Orton , known professionally as Cavemen, worked on " Galang ", which M.I.A. had initially produced with her 505 and a basic four-track tape recorder. Working with Cavemen in a professional studio, she added
8080-461: The user would pick up the stack, turn it over, and put them back on the spindle—sides 3 and 4 would then play in sequence. Record changers were used for many years of the LP era, but eventually fell out of use. 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8: commonly known as the eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, or simply eight-track) is a magnetic tape sound recording technology popular in the United States from
8181-451: The video unless a disclaimer that disavowed the lyrics was added. The BBC described the lyrics as "always fluid and never too rhetorical" and sounding like "snatches of overheard conversation". The songs deal with topics ranging from sex to drug dealing. Musically, the album incorporates elements of baile funk, grime , hip hop , and ragga . Peter Shapiro, writing in The Times , summed up
8282-463: The world is at and I accept how we receive and digest information. I get that somebody in Tokyo is on the internet instant messaging , and someone in the favelas is on the internet. Everybody seems to know a little bit about everything and that's how we process information now. This just reflects that." M.I.A. and Steve Loveridge created all the album's artwork, using what Spin writer Lorraine Ali called
8383-550: The world", but noted that the tiger is more widely associated with Tamil nationalism and that the singer's use of such imagery did not necessarily indicate her support for the Tamil Tigers. Joshua Chambers-Letson determined that the imagery was perhaps "a means of negotiating the violence necessary" and described the controversy as "an attempt to disengage" from the performative intervention that M.I.A.'s album's made, through what he called "the complicated negotiation" of M.I.A.'s own autobiographical trauma, violence, and loss, as well as
8484-450: The year, and Pitchfork and Slant Magazine named Arular the fourth best of 2005. The Observer listed it as one of the year's five best albums. Arular was featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die , where it was described as "the most sparkling debut since Madonna's first album ". The singer Nelly Furtado expressed her admiration for M.I.A.'s style, flow and dancing on Arular , having listened to it during
8585-672: The year. By early 2010, the album had sold 190,000 copies in the US, Arular spawned the singles " Sunshowers ", " Bucky Done Gun " and " Galang ", which was released twice. In 2001, M.I.A. (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam) had worked exclusively in the visual arts. While filming a documentary on Elastica 's 2001 tour of the US, she was introduced to the Roland MC-505 sequencer / drum machine by electroclash artist Peaches , whose minimalistic approach to music inspired her. She found Peaches' decision to perform without additional instrumentation to be brave and liberating and felt that it emphasised
8686-592: Was Frank Sinatra's first album, the four-record eight-song The Voice of Frank Sinatra , originally issued in 1946. RCA's introduction of the smaller 45 rpm format later in 1948 disrupted Columbia's expectations. By the mid-1950s, 45s dominated the singles market and 12" LPs dominated the album market and both 78s and 10" LPs were discontinued. In the 1950s albums of popular music were also issued on 45s, sold in small heavy paper-covered "gate-fold" albums with multiple discs in sleeves or in sleeves in small boxes. This format disappeared around 1960. Sinatra's "The Voice"
8787-540: Was a further development of the similar Stereo-Pak four-track cartridge created by Earl "Madman" Muntz . A later quadraphonic version of the format was announced by RCA in April 1970 and first known as Quad-8, then later changed to just Q8. The Compact Cassette was a popular medium for distributing pre-recorded music from the early 1970s to the early 2000s. The first "Compact Cassette" was introduced by Philips in August 1963 in
8888-432: Was a politician, although she had no contact with him since the early 1990s. Rarely speaking about her father publicly, in an interview with The Guardian in 2005, M.I.A. stated "He never had a practical, physical influence" in her family's life. On his involvement in the war and some writers referring to him as a former Tiger rebel, she has said "People write it because it's easy. The Tigers were big in numbers but my dad
8989-612: Was able to adapt to it, hip-hop gave me a home, an identity. Hip-hop was the most guerrilla thing happening in England at the time. You had Public Enemy fronting it, and that felt like home, and I could dance while I was feeling shitty. It had a whole aesthetic to it – it was being really crass with pride." M.I.A., Arthur Magazine (May 2005) Before the album's release, M.I.A. said that audiences found it hard to dance to political songs . This made her keen to produce music that sounded like pop but addressed important issues. " Sunshowers ", with its lyrical references to snipers, murder and
9090-567: Was also the father of the musician M.I.A. and designer Kali Arulpragasam . Arulpragasam graduated from the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia in Moscow with a degree in Engineering. Having created EROS in 1975 in Wandsworth , England the group staged demonstrations at the inaugural Cricket World Cup that year, prompting clashes between Tamil and Sinhalese cricket supporters, and bringing
9191-558: Was based in the island's north east and Tamil Nadu until the mid-2000s. He contacted his daughter following the release of her debut album, named Arular after him, in 2005, telling her to change its name, however she refused. His house was flooded after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami . Arulpragasam moved to Britain and, at the time of his death, headed the Britain-based Global Sustainability Initiative, which has overseen inventions such as
9292-416: Was eventually released on 22 March 2005, when XL Recordings made it available in the US, albeit with the track "U.R.A.Q.T." omitted as the issues with a sample had not been resolved. The UK edition was released the following month with the track included, and this edition was released in the US by Interscope Records on 17 May. Arular sparked internet debates on the rights and wrongs of the Tamil Tigers. By
9393-414: Was from this that in medieval and modern times, album came to denote a book of blank pages in which verses, autographs, sketches, photographs and the like are collected. This in turn led to the modern meaning of an album as a collection of audio recordings issued as a single item. The first audio albums were actually published by the publishers of photograph albums. Single 78 rpm records were sold in
9494-483: Was good. I felt it was much better to prove that I could be an individual." Arular takes its title from the political code name employed by M.I.A.'s father, Arul Pragasam ; she contends that her father's "revolutionary ideals" are the album's thematic base. "In Sri Lankan, arular means 'enlightenment from the sunshine' or something", she remarked, "but a friend pointed out that it was a pun in English – 'a ruler' – which
9595-399: Was issued in 1952 on two extended play 45s, with two songs on each side, in both packagings. The 10-inch and 12-inch LP record (long play), or 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm microgroove vinyl record, is a gramophone record format introduced by Columbia Records in 1948. A single LP record often had the same or similar number of tunes as a typical album of 78s, and it was adopted by
9696-521: Was lauded by critics for its blending of styles and integration of political lyrics into dance tunes . It was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2005 and was included in the 2005 edition of the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . Although it only reached number 98 on the UK Albums Chart and number 190 on the US Billboard 200 , several publications named it as one of the best albums of
9797-580: Was nominated for the Mercury Prize and the Shortlist Music Prize , and was named as the best album of the year by Stylus Magazine . The album placed second in two major critics' polls, The Village Voice ' s 33rd annual Pazz & Jop poll for the Best Album of 2005 and The Wire ' s annual critics' poll for Record of the Year. The Washington City Paper chose it as the second best album of
9898-469: Was re-released on XL as the second official single from the album in September 2004, and again in October 2005, under the title "Galang '05", with a remix by Serj Tankian . The first official single, " Sunshowers ", was M.I.A.'s first on XL and was released on 5 July 2004. It was supported by a music video directed by Indian filmmaker Rajesh Touchriver . Following the re-release of "Galang", the third single from
9999-493: Was six months old. M.I.A. named her 2005 debut album Arular after her father, partly for him to get in contact with her. "Arular" was his nom de guerre during the civil war . M.I.A. said of her upbringing: "I only had my mum. I never grew up with my dad so I don’t know what he’s like. I think I’m a mixture of both. My mum’s really passive, quiet and she’s not feisty. She cared about bringing in food and getting us to school and stuff but that’s as far as it went. Growing up without
10100-411: Was the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption from the mid-1960s to the early 21st century, a period known as the album era . Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The 8-track tape was the first tape format widely used alongside vinyl from 1965 until being phased out by 1983, being gradually supplanted by
10201-464: Was too selective. The Tigers had machetes and said, 'They killed my mum so I'm going to fucking fight them.' And my dad was like, 'No no no no, read this amazing book about revolution. Let's sit down and draw up a manifesto." In 1997, he set up an Institute of Sustainability Development at Trincomalee on the Eastern Province 's coast. The same year, he wrote a seminal book on Tamil history , and
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